Safety bung



C. A.PHE LPS.

SAFETY BUNG.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19. 1920.

Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

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7% 7 m g a w w v w if g 4% f 8 H 4 CLARENCE A. PHELPS, 0F WHITING, INDIANA.

SAFETY BUNG.

Application filed May 19, 1920. Serial No. 382,574.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE A. PHELPS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Whiting, in the county of Lak and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety Bungs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to animprovement in safety-bungs for venting containers of fluids, which readily volatilize under the influence of heat, to release any excess of the resultant pressure.

known safety-bung in the class reierred to comprises, as its generally stated construction, a cylindrical externally threaded casing to screw into the bushing of a bung-hole and containing a spring-seated valve adapted to be opened,for the venting purpose, by the pressure generated in the container or barrel when it exceeds the valve-seating force of the spring.

I have devised my improvement more especially for sheet-steel barrels of the kind used for holding gasoline, and for the sake of brevity the description hereinafter contained of the operation of my device is confined to that particular application thereof.

When such a barrel is filled with gasoline at the refinery, it is the more usual practice to fill it only partially and thus leave a sufiicient vapor space over the liquid to take care of the pressure referred to when resultingtrom ordinary causes, such as would occur in very warm weather or from exposure of the barrel to the direct heat of the sun or even to the heat of fire for a short time. This precautionary vaporspace provision is frequently neglected, however, particularly at refilling stations, with the result that the unvented pressure generated in the gasoline-barrels under any such heat conditions will bulge and thereby distort the barrels into a condition unfitting them for further use, and sometimes burst them. My device, which is of peculiarly simple construction, effectually accomplishes the purpose of preventing that result by automatically venting the barrel provided with it.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my improved safety bung by a view in vertical sectional elevation.

The externally threaded cylindrical casing 1 screws into the bushing in the head of an ordinary steel gasoline barrel (not shown) up to the flange 2, which is pref- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

erably of hexagon shape. The interior of the casing forms a chamber 3 terminating at its inner end in a valve seat 4:, from the base of which extends an opening 5 leading to a cored-out section 6 into which ports 7 lead through the solid inner casing-end, which is centrally perforated for the passage of the stem 8 of a valve 9 in the cham her 3 and resiliently held against its seat by a helical spring 10 confined about the stem between interlocking nuts 11 and 12 thereon and the casing-bottom.

WVith my improved device in its operative position in a gasoline-barrel, which it effectively seals normally, when pressure generated in the barrel exceeds the seating force of the spring, it acts through the ports 7, cored-out section 6 and opening 5 against the valve to raise it from its seat and release the pressure past it into the chamber 3, whence it is vented into the atmosphere. This venting may be through passages, one of which is indicated at 13,

extending from the chamber 3 through the faces of the flange 2; or instead of these venting passages, a central opening 14 may be provided in a plate 15 confined over the chamber to cap it for excluding therefrom water and dirt.

It is desirable to enable the device to be operated by hand whenever it is desired to vent the barrel preparatory to emptying it and avoid having to remove the bung for admitting air to permit the contents to flow out. For that purpose the valve is provided with a central threaded socket 16 to be engaged bythe threaded end of a key, indicated at 17 which may be introduced into the chamber, for such engagement, through the plate-opening 14. The key carries a fixed shell-like collar, indicated at 18, having vent-openings and so placed on the key-stem that in screwing the key into the socket 16 the collar will bear against the plate 15 whereby continued turning of the key will raise the valve off its seat against the resistance of the spring 10, thereby permitting air to enter the barrel.

I realize that considerable variation is possible in the details of construction herein shown and described, and I do not intend by illustrating a single specific or preferred embodiment of my invention to be limited thereto, it being my intention in the following claims to claim protection for all the novelty there may be in my invention as fully as the state of the art will permit.

I claim: i 1. A safety-bung comprising a casing containing a chamber terminating at its inner end in a valve-seat, a port in the inner casing-end leading to the chamber, a valve in the chamber on a spring-pressed stem extending through said casing-end and" resiliently confining the valve against said 'seat,an apertured plate covering the chamber, and a"key-socket in the valve registering with the aperture in said plate. safety-bung comprising a casing CLARENCE A. PHELPS. 

